


The Good Ol' Wingman, Amortentia

by DennaSnape



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Also Sorry For Perspective Shift, Amortentia, Basically Everyone Love Harry, Blaise loves Draco, Cedric Still Died, Drarry, Ernie loves Harry, Ginny Who?, HBP AU, Half AU, In Which Draco Isn't a Death Eater, It's almost the general theme of HBP but not, M/M, Sorry For The Hetero, Wingman!Amortentia, clueless!Harry, romione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:54:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21680521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DennaSnape/pseuds/DennaSnape
Summary: It's sixth year and they've got Slughorn for Potions, so they're brewing Amortentia. Featuring Wingman!Amortentia, helping people realise who they are into. Also, in true Harry fashion, he's a bit clueless.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Ernie Macmillan/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Neville Longbottom
Comments: 12
Kudos: 254





	1. Let's Brew

There it was again, that sneer. It was the tiniest curl of his upper lip, barely noticeable to anyone around them. Yet Harry caught sight of it again, noting the way the blonde’s brow furrows at the same time as he fights the urge to roll his eyes. He feels eyes on him, and he turns to meet the brown eyes of Hermione as she frowns at him.

“What?” His voice is defensive as he straightens up in his seat. The Great Hall clatters around them as Hermione studies his face for a few moments.

“You were staring,” she lifts an eyebrow as if asking a question. Harry opens his mouth to disagree with her and her brow arches higher. He presses his lips together in a thin line as he shakes his head at her, his shoulders raising as takes a deep breath.

“He’s up to something,” he finally mumbles as he glances to the table to grab his goblet.

“Who’s up to something?” Ron puts his knife and fork down loudly as he tunes into the conversation happening across the table. Harry doesn’t meet Hermione’s eyes as he swallows a large mouthful of pumpkin juice.

“Malfoy,” he can feel Hermione’s eyes burning into him as he focuses on Ron’s freckled face. He can tell that her eyes are narrowed in suspicion and she would be biting her lip to stop whatever was in her mind from coming out. “He seems sick of Zabini and the others,” he chances a glance across the Great Hall and meets the grey eyes of Draco and his gaze quickly switches back to Ron with a gulp.

“So?” Ron looks confused by Harry’s words. “You’ve been kinda obsessed this past term, Har,” Harry can feel his cheeks burn at Ron’s words and he looks away from his friends, his jaw clenching tightly.

“Sorry that I’m concerned about Death Eaters trying to infiltrate the school,” he stands up abruptly and grabs his bag before heading out of the Great Hall alone. Hermione turns to Ron with a sigh.

“Really, Ron?” Her tone is soft as she rubs a hand over her face.

“He is!” The red head throws up his hands in disbelief at Hermione’s reaction. “He’s always staring at him, watching him, following him…” he trails off as he realises Hermione is barely paying attention to him, her eyes instead focusing on the blonde as he begins leaving the Great Hall, his gang all following closely behind him.

“We should get down to Potions,” she looks back to Ron who’s staring at her with his mouth slightly open. “Look, I’m just not sure we should be accusing Harry of being obsessed.”

“But he _is_ ,” Ron grumbles as they make their way down to the Dungeons. They enter Slughorn’s class to hear him asking Harry what he could smell in the classroom.

“Hardwood, rose and musk,” Harry shrugs as his friends drop into the seats beside him with a small nod to the Professor. Hermione takes a deep breath and realises she smells fresh cut grass and Ron’s body wash.

“Mister Malfoy?” Slughorn rubs his hands together as he looks around the class waiting to pick his next victim.

“Lavender, chamomile and salt,” the blonde sneers as he focuses on the most powerful scents. He manages to form the sentence into not being as creepy as it sounds in his head. _Sweat_ wasn’t exactly a smell you would admit to noticing.

“Mister Finnigan?”

“Ginger, Christmas and coconut,” the Irishman nods as Hermione clicks to what the Potion was in the large cauldron at the front of the room.

“Miss Patil?”

“Lavender and incense,” she sighs softly as she exhales.

“Mister Zabini?”

“Roses and earthy tones,” the Slytherin glances at Harry.

“Any guesses what we’re brewing today?” Hermione’s hand flies up into the air as expected and Slughorn waves his hand for her to speak.

“Amortentia?” Her voice wavers ever so slightly as she answers and Slughorn grins. “It smells like what you desire,” she adds in almost a whisper as Harry’s eyes snap to her.

“Correct Miss Granger!” Slughorn claps his hands as the class simultaneously inhales, trying to work out if they had smelled the specific scent outside the classroom. “We will be brewing Amortentia over the next nine days in pairs, and I will be checking everyone’s pockets and bags before they leave. This Potion is extremely powerful and dangerous, and I cannot allow it out of this room.”

He waves his wand towards the board and a list of pairs appears, Hermione and Harry, Ron and Draco, Seamus and Blaise, Pansy and Millicent, Neville and Theodore, Dean and Parvati.

“Good luck,” Harry nods to his best friend as the red head grabs his bag to go to Draco’s table. Hermione opens her book to the instructions, and they set about preparing to make the Potion. Ron and Draco share a glare as they each open their own books, the two of them heading to the supply closet to collect their ingredients.

“Look, Weasel, I’m not going to let you choose sub-par ingredients and ruin this Potion,” Draco’s lip curls as he bumps the red head’s hand out of the way. Ron’s face scrunches up as the scent of toothpaste and leather clears from the air in the space away from the Potion and he sniffs slightly as the blonde passes him ingredients.

“I’m not your slave,” he looks at the bags Draco had handed him, and he shakes his head as he sees the fresh roses in one of them. “Also, we only need the thorns,” he adds holding up the roses as if offended by them.

“The thorns we have in here are dried, and fresh works much better for Amortentia,” Draco rolls his eyes as he grabs the Standard Potioning Water and shoos Ron out of the ingredient closet. “You’re holding five things; you can move a bit quicker.”

“I think he’s right,” Harry taps his pocket where the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions book was and Hermione sighs heavily.

“Harry, the textbook doesn’t say anything about the thorns not being dried,” she grabs the bag of thorns from the shelf and Harry begrudgingly takes them and the rest of the ingredients as Hermione grabs the base.

The class sets to work brewing the Potion and Slughorn watches happily from the front of the room as the pairs from the same house whisper about what they had smelled from the Professors Potion. He notices the inter-house pairs don’t talk to each other unless necessary, except Ron and Draco who keep trading barbs as they battle to be top dog.

“Okay!” He claps his hands together as the bell rings. “Cover your Potions with the silk cloth and place them under your tables,” he pauses as they do as he says. “And now, for the next nine days one of you needs to come down every day to stir the Potion, I don’t care when you choose to do it, but it _must_ be done.” The class ripples with the pairs agreeing who would come down and when as they file out of the classroom, most opting to come down during lunch taking turns each day.

Draco surreptitiously places a charm on the cauldron so he could check whether it had been stirred and he nods as Ron says he’ll do the first stir tomorrow.


	2. Amortentia Claims Her First Couple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wingman!Amortentia gets people together, and there's that smell again.

The next day passes in a blur of classes, the Potions students all whispering about the Amortentia they were brewing and other students asking if they could get some. Harry finds a lot of girls coming up to him from other classes and asking him about Hogsmeade as they poorly attempt to subtly smell him.

“What is going on?” He drops into the seat next to Ron and Hermione in the Common Room after dinner. The two of them look at him like deer in headlights as he kicks the table as Lavender and Parvati giggle at the table in the corner. “All these girls have been coming up to me to _sniff_ me all day, like they think I can’t tell,” he rubs his neck absently as his friends continue to watch him.

“Am I interrupting?” He finally looks at them and Hermione blushes a bright red as Ron grins sheepishly. “Did you stir the Potion?” He rolls his eyes as he stands back up, his shoulders tensing as he straightens up.

“Oh, Harry, I forgot,” Hermione’s voice trembles as she recalls she was going to do the first stir and Ron’s mouth drops open. “I’m so sorry, I’ll go!” He holds up a hand to stop the brunette witch getting up and he sighs heavily.

“I’ll stir them both, okay? Just… whatever,” he waves his hand at them as he turns to leave the Common Room, his mind reeling at the two of them. It had always been obvious that they were into each other, he just never expected the two of them to actually get together. He rubs a hand over his cheek as he enters the classroom, his fist rubbing under the edge of his glasses as he closes his eyes.

There was that scent again, the one he had smelled with the Amortentia, the subtle hawthorn, the fresh rose and the sharp, earthy scent of musk. He shivers slightly as he adjusts his glasses, a cursory glance around the classroom yielding no signs of anyone. He pulls back the silk cloth covering the Potion he and Hermione were working on and stirs it seven times anti-clockwise before he re-covers it and stands back up.

“Malfoy,” Harry almost jumps as he spots the blonde replacing the silk cloth on his own Potion. The blonde turns coolly and fixes the brunette with a look of curiosity.

“What do you want, Potter?” His lip twitches into a smirk as Harry flushes slightly, his mouth opening to reply but nothing coming to mind. “Useless partner not up to stirring?”

“They’re busy,” he trails off not exactly sure what to say.

“Ah, the good ol’ wingman Amortentia,” Draco spreads his hands, his fingers dancing as he speaks. “You smell a wonderful smell, you realise it smells just like your crush, your best friend… and well…” he raises his brows quickly as he bites his lower lip.

Harry rolls his eyes as he goes to pass the blonde to leave the classroom. “Tell me, Potter, aromatherapy, or tea?” He feels his breath catch at the inquisitive tone. He takes a deep breath as he turns to meet the grey eyes of the Slytherin.

“You’d know if you were at the Slug Club parties,” his eyes are drawn to Draco’s lips as his smirk curls into more of a smile.

“How do you know I wasn’t?” Quick as a flash the blonde’s tongue darts out to dampen his lower lip before he worries it between straight teeth. Harry can’t think of an excuse other than watching the blonde turn up and leave with Zabini, and can’t admit he’d followed them from the party, but the look on Draco’s face tells him he doesn’t have to. “I’ll make sure I sit next to you next time,” he nods at the brunette before he leaves the classroom, the scent of rose and musk following him out.


	3. Sneaking Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Harry is suspicious and Ron is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A two-for-one because both these chunks are short, and it's almost Christmas.

Harry doesn’t see Ron and Hermione until the next morning at breakfast and he impatiently waits for them to sit before he leans in close to them.

“I think Malfoy took some of Slughorn’s Amortentia,” he glances around to ensure no one was listening.

“What? Why would he do that?” Ron scrunches up his face as he begins loading his plate full of food. “Parkinson is all over him,” he adds with a slight tilt of his head to indicate to the Slytherin table. Harry’s eyes are drawn to the table and he spots Pansy with her head on his shoulder, her face twisted in a strange knowing smirk as she talks to the blonde.

“Maybe because he gave her the Potion,” Hermione gives him a disbelieving look. “Look, all I’m saying is when he left the classroom, he was holding his cloak tight and he smelled like rose and musk,” he shrugs as if that explains it all and he focuses on Ron to see if the red head agrees.

“She’s always been all over him,” Ron shakes his head as he shovels food into his mouth, unwilling to think about the fact he had smelled roses in the ingredient closet, instead choosing to believe it was the ingredients he’d been handed.

Thankfully for Ron the mail arrives in a flurry of feathers and owls drop letters to many of the students. Harry, Hermione and Neville all receive matching green envelopes that indicate another Slug Club party would be coming up next week, the twentieth of December. Harry looks across the hall to see Draco opening an identical letter and he looks up to meet the green eyes of the Gryffindor with a smirk.

“We should, ah, get to Herbology,” he manages to break eye contact with the blonde, his cheeks tinging pink as he shoves the letter into his book bag. Ron and Hermione share a look as they agree, Ron quickly grabbing a croissant as they leave the Great Hall.

They take their seats in the Greenhouse and Harry starts listing through people that Draco might be thinking to slip a Love Potion to.

“What if he isn’t slipping it to a girl?” Hermione asks, gently trying to guide Harry away from his incessant listing. “Or what if he’s selling it to someone?”

“He doesn’t need money,” Harry waves off the suggestion. “And of course, it’s a girl.” The room falls silent as Professor Sprout enters and the class begins, the teen’s minds being taken off Draco and Amortentia for an hour or so.

~

The Potions classroom ripples with discussion as Slughorn gets them to start working on assignments about Amortentia with their partners. Ron looks at the blonde as he sighs heavily, his chin resting on his palm as he meets the red heads gaze.

“Granger taking you to the Slug Club Christmas party?” He asks simply and Ron pauses.

“What? I mean, I guess?” He blinks as he tilts his head in confusion, his mind reeling as to why Draco would be asking.

“Zabini won’t take no for an answer,” Draco continues as he shakes his head, a quick glance being thrown over his shoulder to look at his dorm-mate “I don’t exactly _want_ to take a date, you know?” Ron slowly shakes his head, unsure of what Draco was going on about.

“Wouldn’t you take Parkinson?” He mentally berates himself for engaging in friendly conversation with the blonde. Draco’s lip curls as he drops his arm from the table and turns to fix the red head with a steely stare.

“Not my type,” he holds Ron’s gaze for a few moments before his face relaxes. “Shall we start this assignment?” Ron nods and grabs his book out of his bag to start taking notes, his mind working over the information with no sure conclusion as to what it all means.

At the end of the lesson he watches as Draco stirs the cauldron seven times anti-clockwise and nods that he would do the stir the next day.

“I’ve got to remember to stir the bloody Potion tomorrow,” he grimaces as he meets up with Harry and Hermione as they leave the Dungeons. “Has something happened in the castle today?”

“I don’t think so, why?” Harry shrugs as they make their way up to Gryffindor tower to get ready for Quidditch practice.

“Huh? Oh, no, nothing,” Ron shakes his head as he pushes the thoughts of having a conversation with Draco from his mind. “Sorry, just looking forward to practice,” he forces a smile at his friends as they approach the tower, Harry returning it and Hermione giving him an inquisitive frown.


	4. Eyes On The Prize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gryffindor v Slytherin Quidditch match, maybe Hermione is cottoning on, and a small splash of hetero (sorry).

The next morning Ron isn’t as excited as he was the night before. This was his first Quidditch match of the year and he was stressing big time, Harry makes a show of pouring him a pumpkin juice and handing it to him.

“Don’t drink it, Ron!” Hermione gasps. “He put the Felix Felicis in your goblet!” Ron glances between his friends and downs the pumpkin juice. “Harry, I’m so disappointed in you,” she leaves the table with a dark look on her face, very nearly bumping into Draco as he saunters into the Great Hall for breakfast.

“Watch it,” he sneers as she ducks around him, her cheeks flushing as she spots the mahogany handle of his broom under his arm. She hurries down to the Quidditch pitch to take her seat, her annoyance at Harry not stopping her from watching Ron’s Quidditch match.

“I’m gonna go make sure she’s okay,” Ron grins as he follows the brunette out of the Great Hall. Harry shrugs as he settles in to having his breakfast, and he shares a wink with Ginny as he flashes the unopened Felix Felicis bottle at her.

“Hermione,” Ron catches up to his girlfriend as she pauses at the bottom of the stairs to the grandstand. “Malfoy told me that Parkinson isn’t his ‘type’ yesterday,” his fingers curl to signal quotation marks as he speaks. “We actually kinda talked in class, why am I telling you this now?” He shakes his head as he meets her eyes.

“ _You’re_ my good luck charm,” he whispers sincerely as he presses his lips to hers, the action taking the brunette by surprise and before she knows what’s happened, he’s disappeared off to the locker room.

“Wait, did you just say not his type?” Her question seems to hang in the still air as students begin milling around the grandstands and she shakes her head to clear her mind. 

She watches the match from the bleachers, her eyes focused on Ron as he manages to stop the Slytherin’s from scoring. She lets herself watch the other players when the Quaffle heads towards the other goals and she spots Harry circling high above.

Even from a distance she can see that he’s not looking around for the Snitch, his eyes instead trained on Draco who was circling a bit lower than he was. She pauses as she feels herself chewing her lip as Draco suddenly drops into a dive, Harry’s eyes flitting around to spot the Snitch as he pulls level with the blond. But there is no Snitch he realises as they both pull up from the sharp descent and head back out of the war zone.

“Eyes on the prize, Potter,” Draco winks as he turns sharply to begin searching for the Snitch again and Harry almost comes to a complete stop as he registers the blond’s words.

“Ten points to Gryffindor!” He hears yelled from the stadium and he realises he needs to find the Snitch. He scours the pitch looking for the glimmer of the Snitch and he spots it, hovering just behind Ron and he races towards it, hoping Draco hadn’t realised he’d found it. But no such luck, the blond was closer to the goals and he follows Harry’s intense gaze and he speeds towards it.

It flits to hover just behind the right-hand ring and Harry panics for a moment, they wouldn’t both fit through the hoop and they were almost neck and neck.

“Come on,” he urges his Firebolt as they draw closer, and suddenly Draco isn’t next to him as he slips through the ring and grasps the Snitch. He turns sharply, spotting the blond rolling back to sit up on his broom, having just rolled to avoid a Bludger.

“Coote sure knows how to aim,” Draco sneers as he passes the brunet on their way back down to the pitch, the Slytherin team skulking off as the school celebrates another Gryffindor win. Harry looks over to where Ron and Hermione were locked in a passionate embrace and he grins as he passes them to have a shower.


	5. A Break Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry accidentally hears a break up, and has his world view changed about how people react to him.

Harry looks up as the Portrait opens and Neville, Seamus and Dean enter the Common Room. They greet him with a nod, and they share a smirk at the couple half hidden in the corner making out. He sighs as he stands up, grabbing bottles of Butterbeer to hand to his dorm-mates.

“I think I should probably go down and do that, too,” he grimaces as he tosses his bottle cap into the bin next to the bucket of ice. He leaves the tower slowly, his pace thoughtful as he makes his way to the Dungeons.

“Look, Blaise, no,” he hears Draco’s voice around the corner, and he pauses. “I’m not taking you to Slughorn’s Christmas party,” Harry’s brow furrows in confusion as he presses himself against the wall.

“Come on, the last party was a lot of fun,” he can hear a sultry tone in the other Slytherin’s voice. Suddenly it clicks to Harry that he’d followed them both out of the party, but he thought he’d spotted Draco and _Pansy_ in an alcove. His lips form an ‘o’ as he fights back a gasp.

“No, not really, I’m sorry if I’ve led you on, Blaise,” Draco shakes his head as moves to pass his dorm-mate “I don’t think we’re really a good fit.”

“Ah, I see,” Blaise’s voice cracks slightly. “No harm done,” he nods as he strides away from the Potions classroom, his face flushed slightly. Harry pushes himself away from the wall and slowly continues into the classroom, not spotting Draco immediately.

The blond turns sharply at the sound of the bottle being placed on a desk and Harry holds his hand up defensively at the hawthorn wand pointed at him.

“Whoa!”

“Potter,” he spits. “What are you doing here?”

“Stirring my Potion…” Harry holds the silk cloth up. “I just put a Butterbeer down,” he points to his desk carefully and the blond lowers his wand.

“Right, yeah, celebrating,” Draco rolls his eyes and sighs heavily. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“Did you want to talk about it?” _Wait, why did I just ask that?_ Draco surveys him for a moment, trying to work out if this was some kind of Gryffindor prank.

“Just a, um, a breakup,” Draco shrugs as he turns back to his Potion. Harry tilts his head as he thinks back to Hermione suggesting the blond may not be slipping the Potion to a girl. “You know what it’s like, Potter, they’re all over you and you’re just not into it,” he didn’t really know, though. He’d had that one terrible kiss with Cho, but nothing since then. He moves to stir his Potion and re-cover it as he contemplates his next words.

“Not really, I mean, girls throw themselves at me, but I haven’t had a girlfriend,” he admits, his cheeks flushing slightly as he leans against his desk. He takes a sip of Butterbeer as he watches the blond finish covering his Potion before standing again.

“Girls, boys, all of them,” Draco ticks off on his fingers. “The Weasley girl, the Ravenclaw Seeker, the Patil twins, the annoying little camera boy,”

“Colin,” Harry interrupts.

“Yes, _Colin_ ,” Draco smirks. “The Hufflepuff boy with the blond curls, oh yes, Diggory, Fleur,” he bites his lip as he pauses. Harry’s face is flushed from Draco’s list. “And all the rest.”

“I mean, Colin is a friend, so is Ernie, and so was Cedric, I don’t,” he stops himself and takes a long swig from the Butterbeer bottle. “They weren’t _throwing_ themselves at me.”

“If you want to see it that way, Harry, feel free,” Draco almost laughs as he exits the classroom, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. _Did he just call me Harry?_


	6. Revelations and Divinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's starting to get sick of the mockery of what he smelled from the Amortentia. Trelawney sprouts rubbish and they finally finish brewing the Potion.

The week passes without much happening, Harry constantly feeling like he was smelling roses and musky scents around as he realises girls were dousing themselves in the scents to try to get him to notice them. He scrunches up his nose as he enters the Greenhouse for Herbology on Friday morning and is hit with what he can only assume is the smell of wood stain.

“Hey, Harry,” Ernie smiles widely at him as Harry sits across from him. What had Draco said, Ernie was into him? No, the Slytherin was wrong, Ernie wasn’t _into_ him. “I’ve been working on making a footstool, I had some really nice walnut planks,” the Hufflepuff continues. “She’s come up real banging, I could show you at lunch?”

“What? Oh, sorry Ernie, I’ve got a bit on today,” he lies as he realises maybe Draco was onto something. Had Ernie seriously _made_ a footstool out of hardwood because it was one of the scents of Amortentia Harry had recognised? He’s glad for Professor Sprout beginning the lesson as Ernie’s face falls slightly and he focuses on the lesson at hand.

“Do you think Colin is into me?” Hermione and Ron look confused at the abrupt question as they head up to Transfiguration.

“What?” Ron asks as Hermione gives him a pointed look. “I, um… nah I don’t think so…”

“See, that’s what I told Malfoy,” Harry throws up his hands in exasperation as they draw closer to the classroom. “But he said that Colin and a bunch of others were _throwing_ themselves at me. The girls, maybe, but the guys? No way,” he shakes his head as Hermione rolls her eyes.

“But then, in Herbology, Ernie was saying he had made a walnut footstool,” he drops into his seat and waits for the other two to sit before he continues. “Ever since the Amortentia lesson I swear girls are spraying themselves with roses and musk perfumes before they come up to talk to me,” he mocks gagging as the rest of the class enters.

Hermione and Ron nod thoughtfully as the Patil twins pass by their table, the overwhelming scent of roses following them as they giggle. Harry gives his friends a pointed look as they scrunch up their noses at the smell and Ron exhales forcefully.

“Yeah, that’s not nice,” Hermione waves her wand slightly and a light breeze clears the air around them. “I guess that’s the price of being ‘the chosen one’,” she jokes with him and he sighs.

“Yeah, but it’s not like the Amortentia was overwhelming in it’s scent, it was all subtle, barely-there notes,” Harry runs his hand through his hair absentmindedly as Professor McGonagall begins their lesson. “Have you finished your Potion’s assignment?”

“No, we should probably go to the Library after class and finish it for Potions this afternoon,” Hermione whispers as McGonagall gives them a warning look.

After the lesson they head to the Library, Ron grumbling that he hadn’t noticed much change in their Potion, but he did admit that he had forgotten a couple of times to stir it as they settle at a table to finish their assignments.

“I think he put a monitoring charm on the Potion though because he hasn’t been angry at me,” he shrugs as they leave the Library for Divination and Arithmancy. “He’s been kinda weird, actually,” he shudders at the idea of Draco being nice.

“I’m sure he’s got a lot going on,” Hermione glares at the red head as she presses a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you in Potions,” she nods before heading down the hallway to Arithmancy, leaving the boys to head up the spiralling staircase to the Divination tower.

“You sure you want to stay in the Castle for Christmas?” Ron asks for the umpteenth time as they ascend the ladder into the incense filled room.

“Yeah, I think it’ll be nice to have a bit of space, especially with how everyone has been lately,” he avoids looking at the table where Lavender and Parvati were meditating waiting for Professor Trelawney to start the lesson.

“I have heard for the fiery lions ‘You may wish to convey something to your prospective partner that requires great tact and delicacy, but naturally you may also be feeling apprehensive about doing so. You may feel fearful of speaking your mind, and yet if you can open your heart and reach through these barriers, you will discover that something quite beautiful can happen. Give love a chance’.” The Divination teacher enters the room with a cloud of smoke billowing around her.

“Expansive Jupiter teams up with practical Capricorn at the start of the week, putting some unexpected limitations on romance. Working hard for what you want might not be enough now. A fiery Aries moon appears later in the week, bringing spontaneity and a hint of aggression to your love life. Be bold, twin sign!” Her voice breaks as she shakes her head slightly, beads and necklaces clinking gently.

She continues through the signs, her tone attempting to sound commanding, but Ron and Harry shake their heads as they settle into the plush bean bags and relax. Harry does his best not to dwell on her reading of his sign, he hadn't been thinking of the Amortentia scent all week, disgusted by the way it had become twisted by admirers, no, not at all.

“What bullocks,” Ron huffs as they make their way to the Dungeons. “Such a batty old broad,” he shakes his robes out as if that would make the smell of lavender and patchouli go away.

“The lavender isn’t so bad,” Harry whacks his best friend as they get to the classroom. “It actually helps me relax enough to sleep,” he blushes as he admits to doing something so ‘girly’. He can feel eyes on him as he takes his seat next to Hermione, and he does his best not to turn around.

“Okay, students, begin adding your Ashwinder Eggs in,” Slughorn looks positively delighted as he watches the class. He wanders around the classroom, pricking each students finger with a spell. “Now, both of you will hold your finger over the Potion, and the blood that is dripped in first will be the owner of the Potion. This does _not_ mean you'll get the grade for the Potion, it just has to be linked to a human to be completed.”

The class becomes silent as everyone holds their hand over their cauldrons, squeezing their fingers in hopes that their droplet of blood will reach the gently boiling Potion first. No one can tell through the steam whose blood makes it in first, but as the Potions begin changing colour the students remove it from the heat to strain it.

The room erupts in small bursts of scents, from Harry and Hermione's the sharp scent of musk and rose rises briefly, the same scent blooming from Seamus and Blaise's cauldron. Lavender and chamomile rises from Dean and Parvati's and Ron and Draco's. There's the scent of sweet sugar cane from Pansy and Millicent's, and root vegetables from Neville and Theodore's as each of the first drops of blood react with the Potion. Then, as quickly as the bursts of scents appeared they meld together to smell like each person's desires.

“Good work,” Slughorn nods from the front of the room as he watches the teen's strain the Potion into vials. As soon as all the corks are in place he waves his wand and the remaining Potion vanishes. “Now, let me check you and your bags and you may leave,” he moves to the doorway and checks each student as they leave.


	7. Let's Get Ready To Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After hearing a breakup Harry's concerned to hear about the ex trying to win their love back, possibly by any means possible.

“Ah, shit,” Harry groans as he collapses into a couch in the Common Room. “We've got the Slug Club party tonight,” he explains as Ron and Hermione look at him perplexed.

“Why is that an issue?” Hermione asks, the corners of her mouth twitching towards a smile.

“It's not,” he says defensively, “it's not.” He taps the arm of the chair as he thinks for a moment, his eyes becoming unfocused as he stares into space.

“Zabini was a bloody dick in class today,” Seamus grumbles as he takes a seat in an armchair near the trio. “Acting like a right spoiled brat, I swear,” he shakes his head. “He was trying to ask Neville if he'd take him to the Slug Club party, and he was trying to pour an extra vial of Amortentia when Slughorn vanished it.”

“I said no, obviously,” Neville shudders. “I asked Luna to go, which I mean, she's already invited, but, yeah,” he blushes brightly as he fiddles with his tie. Hermione looks at Seamus curiously as he gives a weary shrug about Blaise.

“Thank god he didn't manage to seal the vial,” the Irishman's voice finally gets Harry's attention. “I feel bad for the poor broad he was gonna slip it to.”

“He wasn't going to slip it to a girl,” Harry's voice is tense as he speaks up. Hermione's eyebrows rise as he continues without taking a break. “He was going to give it to Malfoy, they were a thing.”

“Were?” Comes Neville's quiet question. Harry nods as he contemplates the evening. Blaise was trying to get into the party, but at least he didn't have any Amortentia. Should he warn Draco?

“How fast is the twin's Owl Order?” Harry tries to be nonchalant as he asks.

“Pretty fast, usually a couple of hours if what you want is in stock,” he shrugs, curious about where Harry's mind was but the brunet nods in acceptance as he relaxes into the couch. _I'll keep an eye on Draco's drinks tonight._ He decides before turning to Neville.

“So, Luna,” he grins at his dorm-mate and Neville flushes a brighter shade of red. Ron and Seamus whistle at his embarrassment and they laugh as they relax for a while. The boys decide they should try to get some real drinks to have before the party.

“Won't say no to having a couple with you's,” Dean grins as Hermione rolls her eyes at them.

“I'm going to get ready,” she smiles at them as she heads up to her dorm and Harry and Ron leave the tower with the Invisibility Cloak. They head to Hogsmeade through the Humpbacked Witches tunnel and they decide to try the Three Broomsticks for drinks.

Rosemerta gives them a coy smile as she rings up their drinks, a flirty 'enjoy the party,' ringing in their ears as they make their way back to the Castle. They slip back to their dorm and present the boys with their loot, the five of them enjoying the stronger drinks.

Harry is restless as they lounge around chatting, he feels like he needs to wear something nice tonight and he's lost for what to wear. He starts rifling through his trunk as the boys question him and he tries to brush it off.

“You could wear that deep purple shirt Mrs Weasley got you for your birthday,” Neville suggests as he begins finding his own outfit for the party.

“Purple? I don't know,” he pulls the slightly crumbled garment out and holds it up. Neville nods, indicating to Seamus and Dean to agree.

“It really brings out your eyes,” he says as the other boys shrug slightly, not wanting to get dragged into a discussion about fashion. “Fine, wear the green one, I think it fits better anyway,” Neville shakes his head and Harry pulls out the other shirt for comparison.

“Yeah, I think the green,” he agrees as he looks in a mirror. The deep green was striking against his skin tone, and the depth made his eyes look brighter in comparison. Ron scrunches up his face at the colour choice but doesn't vocalise this thoughts. _It's Slytherin green, Harry._ He thinks to himself as he finishes his drink before he gets ready too.


	8. The Good Ol' Wingman, Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slughorn's Slug Club parties are never dull, between uninvited guests, spiked punch and an extra element of surprise. Will Harry finally get a clue as to who Amortentia smells like?

Harry, Ron and Neville meet up with Hermione in the Common Room, Ron staring at his girlfriend unable to form coherent words, and Harry and Neville complimenting her on her hair and outfit. She wasn't over-dressed, none of them were, just dressed in smart semi-formal outfits to fit the Christmas occasion.

They meet up with Luna as they get to the fourth floor and Neville blushes brightly as he compliments her slightly outrageous outfit, fairy lights scattered over her dress and through her hair. Harry takes a final swig of his hard Butterbeer before he vanishes the bottle, and the group heads towards the small Hall reserved for these kinds of events.

There is a bored student taking people's passes at the door, each welcome barely covering his disgust at having to be here.

“No partner, Potter?” He sneers as the teen's enter. Harry simply shrugs at him and they find the room filled with a large table and some smaller standing tables around for after dinner. They shuffle around the mostly empty table and settle into seats near a private looking corner decorated with silk hangings, close to the drinks table without being right at it, and Harry offers to grab everyone a drink.

He can't keep his eyes on the doorway as he get their drinks, but once he's in his seat his eyes barely leave the door as they continue chatting.

There's the sound of a slight scuffle and Harry glances to his left to see Draco's hand gripping the seat tightly, the slightly more tanned hand of Ernie on the other side of it.

“No,” Draco all but snarls as the Hufflepuff moves to slip into the seat.

“Oh, Ernie, dear, it's okay,” the smooth voice of Blaise cuts into the conversation as he places a hand on Ernie's shoulder to guide him away slightly. “Let Draco sit there, I'll sit next to him and then you can be on my other side,” his fingers move to caress the Hufflepuff's chin as he speaks and Draco's eyes narrow.

“Okay,” Ernie smiles at Blaise as he allows the Slytherin to guide him away. Draco gracefully slides into the seat next to Harry, and Blaise sits next to him, Ernie following his lead and taking the third seat away, a slight look of disappointment that he couldn't sit next to Harry flitting over his face.

“ _What was that?_ ” Ron hisses to Harry as the Slytherin's glare at each other.

“I have no idea,” Harry breathes back, his eyes moving between the two boys as they don't break eye contact.

“I see you found a date,” Draco raises an eyebrow as he looks to Ernie in disgust.

“I see you _didn't_ ,” Blaise retorts sharply, his eyes looking past the blond to look at the Gryffindor's and Luna. The table fills up quickly, the other students barely even noticing Harry and Draco sitting next to each other and not fighting.

“Welcome, students!” Slughorn claps his hands to draw attention to himself and the chatter around the table dies down. “We'll start with a nice dinner, and then you may mingle and chat, enjoy the food and drink and good company,” he motions to the standing tables around the room. “And of course, enjoy the element of Christmas surprises,” he adds cryptically and the table erupts in whispers as he sits down, a hand being waved over his plate and the food appearing on the large table.

“So, Harry,” Luna leans to see the brunet better as they begin eating. “Did the lavender help with your sleep troubles?” Her eyes light up as Harry nods, his cheeks flushing slightly, but the ambient light disguises it well.

“Yeah, it's been really good,” he smiles to her, and he can feel eyes on him as he turns to meet grey eyes. “Don't count your wins yet,” he smirks as Draco's lip curls. The rest of the meal goes by quickly and as the plates clear Draco watches the group move to a standing table, Harry nodding to get more drinks and the blond follows him.

“You seem far more relaxed than I think I've ever seen you,” Draco muses as he fills his own cup with the spiked punch.

“Am I a little buzzed? Yeah,” Harry licks his lips as he levitates the 4 drinks back to the table they had claimed and heads back to grab his own. He takes a swig as he notes that Draco was keeping pace with him.

' _Christmas time, mistletoe and wine, Children singing Christian rhyme_ ' rings out through the room as Slughorn chuckles gleefully with a shout of 'surprise!'. Draco looks up and feels the colour drain from his face, mistletoe. He looks down to meet the green eyes of Harry, and he gulps.

Harry on the other hand just shrugs, a vague smile on his face as he quickly presses his lips to the blond's and continues to the table.

“Did you _just_?” Ron's shocked question is cut off abruptly.

“It's just a stupid tradition,” Harry waves off his friends concern as he drinks more of the spiked punch.

“A _little_ buzzed,” Draco nudges his way between Harry and Luna at the standing table. “You're flat out drunk,” the blond almost looks affronted.

“Not quite,” Harry shakes his head as he meets Draco's gaze, his head tilting as he studies the blond's features.

“Hey, mind if we just,” Blaise elbows his way between Luna and Draco and Ernie awkwardly tries to join the table too as the group fans out slightly. “Oh, well if this isn't just so cosy,” the Slytherin purrs as he looks around at everyone glaring at him.

Hermione shakes her head slightly at Ron as he opens his mouth to tell the Slytherin's to piss off and he closes his mouth, confused.

“Okay,” Draco runs a hand through his hair as he steps back slightly. “I'm just going to go to the bathroom, and I hope I don't see you here when I get back, Zabini,” his tone is cold and Blaise looks slightly hurt as the blond leaves the table.

“Well I think it should be a majority rules, right?” Blaise waves his hand across the table and Harry spots a pinkish liquid fall into Draco's cup.

“Majority rules, piss off,” Ron snaps at the Slytherin and he rolls his eyes.

“Fine, come on, Ernie,” he tugs the Hufflepuff away from the table and Ernie follows him with a sigh.

“Okay, yeah I think Ernie's into you,” Ron shakes his head in disbelief as the boys try to mingle with some of the other Hufflepuff's. “Looks like everyone ended up bringing a date, huh?” He adds as he looks around at the jingle of Slughorn's surprise, spotting the next victims, a Ravenclaw and his date.

“Except me,” Harry nods with a sigh.

“And me,” Draco sends a glare over his shoulder as he reaches for his glass and Harry scrunches his eyes closed as he makes a quick choice. He knocks the glass out of the blond's hand and the shimmering punch splatters the Slytherin's black shirt. “What the actual hell? You are drunk,” Draco snaps.

“Let me help,” Harry grabs his wand and Draco's eyes narrow. “Zabini put something in your cup,” he admits as he siphons the liquid out of the blond's shirt and directs it back into the cup. “I think we should ask Slughorn what it is.”

“Sure,” Draco grabs his cup and the two of them make their way to the Potions Professor. “However, you could have just said 'no, don't drink it',” he adds as they weave through the mingling students.

“Not exactly in the most control of responses,” Harry indicates to his own empty cup and he refills it on the way past the table. “Here, I'll swap you,” he takes the cup from Draco's hand and passes him the full cup.

“Professor,” he greets the older wizard with a charming smile. “I feel my cup had something extra added to it, could you tell me what?” He places the cup in front of Slughorn who waves his wand over it.

“Pineapple and mango juice, ginger ale, Firewhisky,” he nods not surprised about the alcohol. “Ah, and I believe that would also be Love Potion Number Nine from the Weasley boys,” he shakes his head. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Harry, do you know who did it?”

“Yeah, Ernie's date,” Harry nods as he directs Draco away from the table and he meets the grey eyes. “Not thirsty now?” He asks as he indicates the full drink in the blond's hand. They pass around the back of the drinks table and head through the silky tapestries towards the standing table when Harry catches the scents of Amortentia nearby.

“Do you smell that?” He pauses before they reach the table, turning to look at the blond curiously. “The Amortentia?” Draco bites his lip as he realises Harry didn't know, whether by choice or naivety, Draco couldn't help but find it endearing.

“You mean the hardwood of my wand and broom, or the rose and musk aftershave that I use?” Draco steps closer to the brunet and Harry's eyes are drawn to the way the blond was biting his lip. “Or the lavender you use to relax, and the chamomile tea you drink for the same reason?” He leans close to the Gryffindor as he speaks, his voice tingling through Harry.

Before he can register what's happening, Draco is kissing him. His eyes close as he leans into the gentle kiss, the blond vanishing the drink as his hands come to grab Harry by the shirt. He groans as he feels his back hit a wall and Draco kisses him harder, their tongues meeting as he pulls the blond closer by his hips.

This is what he'd been missing in that kiss with Cho. This was purposeful and powerful, full of emotion and electricity. Time seems to pause as they kiss, their breathing coming in gasps and moans as their hands move over one another, trying to bring the other as close as possible.

There's the sound of shattering glass and they pull apart quickly, their faces flushing at being caught and Harry meets Hermione's eyes. The witch's mouth is open in shock and her cheeks are going redder by the moment as she glances between the two boys.

“Um, we were just getting drinks,” Harry says the first thing that comes to his mind and Draco just rolls his eyes.

“Harry, at this point, I think you were the last to have a clue,” the blond wraps his arm around Harry's shoulders as Hermione continues staring at them. He guides them around to the drinks table and pours them all a drink, handing Hermione hers gently in case she was going to drop this one too.

They join the standing table and Draco slides his arm around the brunet's waist as they join back into the conversation. Ron's eyes flit to the Slytherin briefly before he meets Hermione's eyes with a smile.

“I guess everyone does have a date after all,” Luna smiles whimsically at the group as she sighs happily. Harry can feel his cheeks burn as Draco squeezes his hip gently, a flutter beginning in his stomach as he bites his lip. Neville looks slightly confused as he looks to Harry and Draco, his eyebrows raising in understanding as he spots how closely the two were standing.

The six of them turn at the sound of a _bang_ and spot Blaise with his wand out, and Ernie on the floor stunned. “I didn't do anything!” He glares at the Potions Professor as he backs around the table away from the Hufflepuff's. “Potter probably spiked Draco's drink with the Love Potion, look at them!” The room turns at the shouted words and there's a gasp as they see Draco with his arm around Harry.

“Except that the drink in question was Mister Potter's,” Slughorn steps closer to the teen. “And I never said _what_ Potion had been used,” his voice grows dark as he lifts his wand, a simple Stupefy being cast on the Slytherin student as the party erupts in hushed whispers.

“Well, that's great,” Draco sighs as he turns back to the table. “You still owe me for that pathetic Mistletoe kiss,” he gives Harry a pointed look as the brunet grins at him.

“Urg, no!” Ron groans as his best friend kisses Draco firmly, his hands coming to grasp the blond hair as he deepens the kiss.

“Better?” His green eyes twinkle as he pulls back with a smirk and Draco looks stunned. “What was it you said? Good ol' wingman, Amortentia?”

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a bunch of this prepared and just waiting to go up in weekly installments.


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